Star Trek(DC): Debt Of Honor

[GhostFaceSaint]

This is a graphic novel that is, sadly, out of print by some great talent, I think it would be a great basis for the next Star Trek film (XII), here is a link to the work: [link deleted], the collection was put in a graphic novel in 1992.

 

[Therin of Andor]

This is a graphic novel that is, sadly, out of print by some great talent, I think it would be a great basis for the next Star Trek film (XII), here is a link to the work: [link deleted], the collection was put in a graphic novel in 1992.

It may be out of print, but it's still in copyright. Chris Claremont (writer) and the artists wouldn't be too thrilled with you distributing their work that way.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

It may, technically, be out of print, but I guarantee you that your local comic shop can get you Debt of Honor. And they can probably get you a very good deal on it, too.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It may, technically, be out of print, but I guarantee you that your local comic shop can get you Debt of Honor. And they can probably get you a very good deal on it, too.

My local shop still has copies!

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

In my defense, IDW the current publisher of Star Trek has no plans to republish any old comics from Marvel or DC, we will never get another chance to read this and DC can't nor does it probably want to republish this work.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

In my defense, IDW the current publisher of Star Trek has no plans to republish any old comics from Marvel or DC, we will never get another chance to read this and DC can't nor does it probably want to republish this work.

Excuse me, but are you smoking crack?

IDW has published several volumes of Star Trek material previously published by DC, Malibu, and Marvel. (They haven't done any Gold Key reprints; Checker Books holds the reprint rights to those.)

IDW has reprinted a number of Borg stories originally done by DC, Gary Seven stories by DC, Deep Space Nine stories by Malibu, Early Voyages by Marvel. They're reprinting The Mirror Universe Saga, even going so far as to use DC's cover from their trade paperback collection.

So, can you honestly tell me that IDW "has no plans to republish any old comics," when they've republished a lot of it already, and will continue to do so?

That said, the one thing that IDW should do is to pay the creators of the original material royalties for these reprints. Which, according to people like Mike Barr and Howie Weinstein, they're not.

But they are reprinting material.

 

[Christopher]

The idea that Debt of Honor could be the basis for the next movie is rather odd, considering that DoH's story is heavily dependent on revisiting characters and continuity elements from TOS episodes and films, calling back events that wouldn't have happened in the new timeline. For instance, it's a cinch that the Abramsverse Jim Kirk, who went directly from the Academy to the captaincy of the Enterprise, never served aboard the Farragut.

 

[Steve Roby]

That said, the one thing that IDW should do is to pay the creators of the original material royalties for these reprints. Which, according to people like Mike Barr and Howie Weinstein, they're not.

But they are reprinting material.

I'm going to guess, given its low price, that last year's DVD-ROM with all the pre-IDW comics (including Debt of Honor) didn't pay royalties either.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I'm going to guess, given its low price, that last year's DVD-ROM with all the pre-IDW comics (including Debt of Honor) didn't pay royalties either.

No. The artist Rob Davis wrote on ComicMix last year that he wasn't receiving royalties for the DVD.

 

[Stevil2001]

In my defense, IDW the current publisher of Star Trek has no plans to republish any old comics from Marvel or DC, we will never get another chance to read this and DC can't nor does it probably want to republish this work.

Even if this was true (and as Allyn said, it's not), copyright violation is still copyright violation, and beyond just being illegal, it's a bit of a faux pas on a message board heavily frequented by writers.

 

[Procutus]

For instance, it's a cinch that the Abramsverse Jim Kirk, who went directly from the Academy to the captaincy of the Enterprise, never served aboard the Farragut.

And that's a shame, IMO.

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

In my defense, IDW the current publisher of Star Trek has no plans to republish any old comics from Marvel or DC, we will never get another chance to read this and DC can't nor does it probably want to republish this work.

Excuse me, but are you smoking crack?

IDW has published several volumes of Star Trek material previously published by DC, Malibu, and Marvel. (They haven't done any Gold Key reprints; Checker Books holds the reprint rights to those.)

IDW has reprinted a number of Borg stories originally done by DC, Gary Seven stories by DC, Deep Space Nine stories by Malibu, Early Voyages by Marvel. They're reprinting The Mirror Universe Saga, even going so far as to use DC's cover from their trade paperback collection.

So, can you honestly tell me that IDW "has no plans to republish any old comics," when they've republished a lot of it already, and will continue to do so?

That said, the one thing that IDW should do is to pay the creators of the original material royalties for these reprints. Which, according to people like Mike Barr and Howie Weinstein, they're not.

But they are reprinting material.

I seriously had no idea IDW was reprinting old material! I have been looking for old Trek comics but my local bookstores (Border's, Barnes and Noble, ETC) as well as my one comic book store but they have stated to me to me that they know nothing of about any old comics being reprinted into graphic novels (and they also collectively made me feel stupid for asking [Old Star Trek comics, who the f*ck cares! Who is this clown!], these stores aren't getting many of IDW's work).

I do apologize, I thought that after nearly fifteen years of being out of print that we had seen the last of this great story by Chris Claremont and crew at DC. Star Trek is not taken seriously by a lot of writers, and comics even less, I thought that no one considered this Star Trek story about the old crew to be worth publishing, can you blame me for thinking this way when there is a stigma attached to comics by many people (including among Trekkers/Trekkies)?

If I could I would take down the uploaded images, I regret having posted them today.

Hopefully IDW republishes this book again because it really is worth reading, and I feel that it is one of Claremont's better books published in the last twenty years (I don't like his recent work in his return to the Marvel X-Men series).

Once again I am genuinely sorry...

 

[Captain Randy Hall]

I just want to mention that I consider Debt of Honor the best Star Trek comic ever made. There are plenty of other great ones, but that one always rises to the top.

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

The idea that Debt of Honor could be the basis for the next movie is rather odd, considering that DoH's story is heavily dependent on revisiting characters and continuity elements from TOS episodes and films, calling back events that wouldn't have happened in the new timeline. For instance, it's a cinch that the Abramsverse Jim Kirk, who went directly from the Academy to the captaincy of the Enterprise, never served aboard the Farragut.

Actually it was the idea of a galactic threat the the three governments did not want to admit existed, which brought together A federation Starship, a Romulan bird-of-prey, and a Klingon battlecruiser to fight a common threat that I liked. I also liked the character idea of T'Cel and her relationship to Kirk, she is a strong character, and the two had some real chemistry going on.
Also bringing in Commander Kor was cool, he is an old favorite.

The story can be modified to fit into one film with the new cast, and setting it up for two films would be even better; can you imagine watching two back to back Star Trek films, each a year apart? After all Star Trek XIII is coming too, the new cast were all signed up for three films.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The story can be modified to fit into one film with the new cast, and setting it up for two films would be even better; can you imagine watching two back to back Star Trek films, each a year apart? After all Star Trek XIII is coming too, the new cast were all signed up for three films.

As cool as it might be to see a favourite ST novel or comic turned into a movie, I'd rather go into the next movie having no idea what was going to happen. If it was "Star Trek XII: Debt of Honor", based on the graphic novel by Chris Claremont, I probably know way too much about the plot already - and it's a story that hops through various intervals of the impressively long TOS timeline to make its points. I'm betting the new film doesn't need to revisit young/mature/elderly versions of Kirk, Spock, McCoy et al in the next movie.

The graphic novel's strength is watching a post-ST V Kirk flashback to various highlights of his long career. Do we really need Shatner in the next film, just so we know that Pine's Kirk did have a successful and varied career?

Hey - I loved "Titanic", but I did have a sneaking suspicion they were going to collide with an iceberg at some point in the movie, and it took away some of the surprise.

 

[Bob Greenberger]

As the editor who wrangled all the talent together to produce this 25th anniversary project, I remain thrilled to see people still regard it favorably. One issue IDW may have in reprinting this is that it was scaled at the then industry standard graphic novel size but never say never.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I am very pleased to have just picked this book up for 99c and think it's one of my all-time favorite pieces of TrekLit. Sadly, it's gone back up to $5.99 and I'm assuming that it was only on sale for the anniversary but it's well worth it at twice the latter price.

 

[Charles Phipps]

DEBT OF HONOR is more novel than graphic novel, being a fairly thick-text story that is absolutely packed with huge amounts of exposition and character development. Chris Claremont made himself famous by doing this sort of thing during the height of the X-men and here he turns it to the benefit of the post STAR TREK IV, Pre-DEEP SPACE NINE timeline.

Some of his information is outdated like the fact he certainly had no idea what would cause the "ridgeless" Klingons in ENT or that Kor would look like a typical Klingon come "Blood Oath" nor that the Romulans would go from being sexy femme fatales to asexual militants (though they go back to the former in ST:PIC).

He also makes the questionable artistic decision that blowing up the U.S.S Enterprise haunts James T. Kirk more than the death of his son when THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY has a very different take. One that also precludes the kind of alliance that takes place in this book between Kor, Kirk, and T'Cel.

Now, having made a lot of complaints about the fact Chris Claremont isn't a clairvoyant, I will state that the book is otherwise fantastic. It is full of Trek continuity and references to the original series as well as teamwork across the three big species. I love the character of T'Cel even if she is written a little too much as "the other woman Kirk loved." Still, I actually liked the character of T'Kir and am glad there's another (possible) descendant of Kirk out there.

The art is beautiful and the story quite full despite the alien antagonists being unusually pure evil.
Top marks.

 

[Therin of Andor]

By the way, IDW did an official facsimile reprint of DC's "Debt of Honor" in July this year, "in its original 8.2” x 11” size":
https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/star-trek-debt-of-honor-classic-edition/

 

[publiusr]

The idea that Debt of Honor could be the basis for the next movie is rather odd, considering that DoH's story is heavily dependent on revisiting characters and continuity elements from TOS episodes and films, calling back events that wouldn't have happened in the new timeline. For instance, it's a cinch that the Abramsverse Jim Kirk, who went directly from the Academy to the captaincy of the Enterprise, never served aboard the Farragut.

“In a world…of Deep Fake CG actors in NFT programs…one merely has to say ‘Siri: play that fan movie based on Christopher’s novel from way back in 2019? But with Shemp as Kirk’.”